Of Beasts and Demons
by short-story-shorter
Summary: Beast Boy and Raven have a problem and they've tried everything to fix it except for one: go to Azarath. But when Raven goes home and brings Beast Boy and Cyborg with her, things don't go as well as any of them hoped.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans**

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><p>The sky was bright, clear, and red. The sun was deep orange, outlined by a bright yellow halo of light. The city opened around a large domed castle-like building. It sat atop a subtle slope and the surrounding buildings—smaller, less impressive versions of the center castle—descended around it, like ripples in a pond, until the city suddenly stopped, almost jarringly. Dark, shadowed trees marked the end of the city, sparse at first then dense enough for not a glimpse of the dark green grass to be seen. Even the air was different.<p>

Beast Boy almost puked. "Dude, I don't think we're in Jump City anymore."

Behind him, Cyborg let out a low whistle as he stepped out of the crackling portal. It was like a rip through the very world around them—a tear between dimensions, Raven called it.

Through it, a small strip of the living room of the Tower was visible. Robin, Starfire, Kid Flash, and Jinx all looked on in open-mouthed awe. Starfire and Kid Flash sent them smiles and waves, while Robin nodded in assurance. Jinx looked bored beyond belief but an elbow to the side from Kid Flash made her raise a hand. Beast Boy still wasn't sure how he felt about leaving Robin and Starfire with no one but Kid Flash and Jinx for backup, but he didn't really have a choice.

Raven stepped into view and, with a final look back, stepped through the portal. Without a sound, it closed behind her. Beast Boy had almost hoped for some crackling or something. Anything to take his mind off the fact that he was now in a completely different dimension.

"Sooo, this is Azarath," he said, hoping the shaking in his voice wasn't too obvious. "Compared to this, Raven's room is like a land of cotton candy and rainbows."

Her eyebrow twitched but she said nothing. She looked around at the open deck of the castle she had brought them to and took a deep breath. The air here was different.

Beast Boy followed her lead and took a breath before grimacing. Incense, spices, and flowers. The different scents surprised him. There was nothing on the deck that would've smelled like anything; it was completely empty. Like the rest of the castle, the deck was made of spotless silver gray marble. It was probably bigger than the entire Titan Tower living room, kitchen included. Thin doors with intricate designs towered over them on one side and on the other the city extended below the deck.

"Where's the welcoming committee, Rae?" Cyborg asked, looking around. "You told them we were coming, right?"

She took another deeper, longer breath and her eyes closed peacefully.

"You did, didn't you?"

She opened her eyes and walked to the marble railing at the end of the deck.

"Didn't you?"

"Of course," she said. "Just now."

"What?"

The doors pushed open and a tall woman followed by a taller man walked through. The woman was beautiful. She had warm glowing skin and an oval face framed by medium-length jet-black hair, with deep-set dark eyes. The man was broad shouldered and black as night. His eyes, hair, and teeth were so white they practically glittered. Both wore flawless white robes that trailed behind them as they walked.

With each click of their footsteps, Beast Boy's gag reflex acted up. He was almost glad he'd skipped breakfast.

The woman and man walked right past Beast Boy and Cyborg with barely a glance and stopped in front of Raven. She turned slowly away from the city to face them.

"Arella," she said. "Ignatius."

"Raven," the man boomed. His voice was deep and warm, like maple syrup.

"A little more warning would have been appreciated, Raven," said the woman. She sounded like twinkling wind chimes, hung out on a porch in a tornado—not happy at all.

"I apologize," Raven said, not all that apologetically. "We needed some help."

"We?" Arella said.

Raven stepped past the pair and in front of Beast Boy and Cyborg. "Me and my friends."

Arella watched Raven carefully, then studied Beast Boy and Cyborg with a scrutinizing frown. Beast Boy felt like he was taking some sort of test and he'd shown up without a pencil and had forgotten how to write his own name.

"Your friends," Arella echoed.

"Friends," Ignatius said. He came over to Raven and set his hands on her shoulders. "Your friends."

Raven looked up at the man and nodded. "Will you help us?"

Ignatius smiled. "What do you need?"

"Where's the bathroom?" Beast Boy said.

Then he blew chunks.

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><p>"Feeling better, little man?"<p>

Beast Boy groaned into the toilet bowl then looked up to find Cyborg smirking down at him. He was about to retort with the fact that he hasn't been "little" for years when his gagging got in the way. He groaned again and settled with, "Shut up, metal butt."

"You know, you are looking a little green."

"I hate you." Beast Boy threw up until his chest was wracked with a fit of coughs. "Sooo much."

Cyborg chuckled, but when Beast Boy didn't stop heaving, he frowned. "What's wrong with you?"

Beast Boy choked on his bile then spat it out. "The air smells different. It's, I dunno, stronger or something. It-it—everything's different."

"And that made you barf it up for the last twenty minutes? What did you eat this morning?"

"Nothing."

"You're an idiot."

"Uuuuuggghhh…"

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><p>Raven didn't like how worried she was or how responsible she felt for it. These past few of days had been especially rough on Beast Boy; a trip between dimensions couldn't have been easy on him. That wasn't her fault. These past few days weren't particularly kind to her either.<p>

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, repeated her mantra silently. Emotions washed over her: curiosity, worry, irritation, happiness. She pinpointed those emotions to the two people in front of her. Ignatius and Arella.

They'd moved into the dining hall and sat across from each other at a long marble table, one of six watched over by a painting of Azar. It covered nearly an entire wall by itself and the ground in front of it was covered with candles and ashes of incense. Raven had paid her respects with a candle of her own before accepting the bowl of porridge and a mixed bowl of fruits. She ate in silence under the watchful eyes of her companions. When she finished, Ignatius spoke first.

"What can we help you with, my child?"

"My friends and I have a problem."

"These friends of yours," Arella said. "Who are they?"

"They're friends. My friends and I trust them."

"Who are they, Raven?"

She sighed. "When I first arrived to Earth, they were there to…welcome me."

"They don't look human."

Raven set her jaw and met Arella's eyes. "They're my friends. Is that not good enough for you?"

"I meant nothing by it, my—"

"We have a problem. If you won't help us we'll leave. Azarath is not the only place for me and my friends to find help."

Arella looked about to say something but stopped when Ignatius touched her shoulder. "What is wrong, Raven?"

She prepared herself; it was a long story.

"Well, rather than saying there's one problem, we actually have two separate problems that conspire together to make one huge problem. My friend—the green one, Beast Boy—has this monster inside of him. A Beast. We thought he had it under control. It hasn't bothered him for years but suddenly a few months ago, it started acting up, giving him issues."

"Is that what is wrong with his stomach?" Ignatius asked.

"No, that's just Beast Boy being Beast Boy." She sighed before continuing. "It wasn't long before it became clear that this wasn't just his problem anymore. The darkness, the demon, inside of me began reacting to it. Whenever Beast Boy was around my demon saw him as a threat, a challenge. Soon they started reacting to each other and took over. Hours of our days would disappear. We'd wake up together in random places, covered in scratches and blood. Then things…escalated."

"In what way?"

Raven opened her mouth to answer but then closed it. Heat suddenly rose to her face. She lowered her eyes to the empty bowls in front of her. "It doesn't matter. But I was hoping—"

"Raven," Arella demanded. "In what way?"

The doors of the dining hall creaked open. Beast Boy was leaning against Cyborg as they walked in, looking weak and greener than usual. Arella's eyes swung between him and Raven's red face before she jumped to her feet.

"Arella—" Raven tried to stop her but it was too late.

Arella leaned into Beast Boy's face, effectively freezing them to the spot.

"Did you have sex with my daughter?"

"What?" Beast Boy squeaked.

Raven stood and pounded her hands on the table. "Mother!"

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other.

"Mother?"

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><p>AN: Hey there! So, this is my first fanfic ever (can you tell?), so please be kind! Uh, yeah, anyway. I might have more to say later, but for now please enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: In case you were wondering, no, I do not own Teen Titans**

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><p>Beast Boy should've realized it sooner, if he thought about it. They looked alike. They might not have a few years ago when Raven was younger, but now, they looked alike. Raven's face had thinned out, taking on an oval shape similar to Arella's, and her hair fell over her shoulders in almost the same way. Not to mention the eyes—they both had the same violet eyes that glowed when they were angry.<p>

Still, it was weird to think about: Raven had a mom.

Well, of course Raven had a mom. She didn't just pop up out of the ground like a daisy. They'd already met her dad once, under less favorable circumstances than this one. Obviously, if she had a dad she had a mom.

But still.

"Did Raven ever mention her mom to you before?" Beast Boy muttered to Cyborg, one eye trained on Ignatius. They followed him down a sparkling hall of marble that looked just like all the other sparkling marble halls they followed Ignatius down before. It was completely quiet and there was really no point in whispering but it made him feel better.

Cyborg shook his head. "Never. I think she said she came here once, during that whole thing with Trigon, but she said she wasn't sure if she actually came or if it was an illusion. Other than that." He shrugged.

"Don't you think that it's a bit strange?" Beast Boy pressed. "We've known her for, what, five years? And the most we know about her family is that her dad was some evil demon dude who almost took over the world?"

Cyborg shrugged again. "Our families are a touchy subject, Beast Boy. None of us really like going into it."

"But why didn't she just tell us—"

"Do you feel like talking about Africa?"

Beast Boy crossed his arms. "That's not fair."

Cyborg gave him a sidelong glance before smirking. "Probably not."

Beast Boy sighed. "Fine, I get it. Raven's family, Raven's business."

"We're here," Ignatius announced. He held open a large door and gestured them in. "I apologize for the meager accommodations but this was the best we could put together on such short notice."

The "meager accommodations" happened to be size and a half of the deck they'd been on earlier. The door led to a giant living room with walls of white marble. Two couches situated around a small marble coffee table in the center. Glass doors led to a terrace about a quarter of the size of the living room and gossamer thin fabrics let in a red glow, drowned out by the glittering chandelier hanging over the coffee table. On either side of the living room were two sets of sliding wood doors that led to two separate bedrooms. Beast Boy couldn't catch a complete view of them but if the giant king sized bed covered with fluffy, pure white sheets were any indication, he would need to take three showers just to be clean enough to walk inside.

Beast Boy and Cyborg were both dazed by the extravagance and walked in slack jawed. Ignatius watched them, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "If these quarters do not suit you, we can prepare another set of rooms."

"Dude, are you kidding?" Beast Boy grinned, getting over his shock. He took a running start and flopped down onto the plush couch, at once sinking into its softness. "This is amazing!"

"All I can say is booyah!" Cyborg ducked into the kitchen tucked away in the corner. The stove, oven, and refrigerator seemed almost out of place but that didn't stop him from throwing the fridge open and exploring its contents.

"I noticed that you did not arrive with any provisions," Ignatius said. "I took it upon myself to provide you with food. We do not eat as extravagantly as you might be used to, but I hope it is satisfactory."

"Jackpot!" Cyborg exclaimed. "Meat! We are cooking up a barbecue for dinner tonight!"

"Is there any tofu in there?" Beast Boy sighed contently. Even if there wasn't, the couch was too perfect for him to care.

"I've also prepared a set of nightclothes for you, Beast Boy," Ignatius said, gesturing to the room on the left. "They are in your bathroom."

"I have my own bathroom? Dude, this place is awesome!"

Ignatius smiled. "I apologize for not preparing any for you, Cyborg, but it didn't appear as though you would need them."

"No worries, man." Cyborg walked over and offered Ignatius his hand to shake. After a moment, Ignatius took it. "The room is more than enough. Thank you."

"Well, if everything is to your liking." Ignatius bowed his head and turned to leave.

"Hey, wait." Beast Boy hopped to his feet and nearly lost his nerve when the larger man looked at him. "Uh, where's Raven? We need to talk to her about, um, some stuff."

"She is in her old rooms speaking with Arella," Ignatius explained.

"Oh. Where are her old rooms?"

"On the other side of the courtyard."

"Can you show us?" Cyborg asked.

"I'm sorry, but not right now. As per Arella's request, they must be left alone for the remainder of the hour."

"Oh." Beast Boy glanced at Cyborg. "Thanks anyway, Ignatius."

Once he was gone, Cyborg burst out into laughter. Beast Boy's face heated up so much he wouldn't be surprised if it exploded.

"Shut up, dude!" he shouted. "This isn't funny!"

"You're right!" Cyborg wheezed. "This is freakin' _hilarious!"_

Defeated, Beast Boy fell onto one of the couches, much less enthusiastically than he did the first time. "Raven's mom hates me."

Cyborg recovered enough to sit down next to Beast Boy and clapped him on the back. "Of course she does. You deflowered her daughter."

With that, Cyborg erupted into a fit of laughter once more. Beast Boy punched his shoulder hard and then held his bruised fist. With a groan, his head fell into his hands. Suddenly, he felt like throwing up again.

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><p>Her rooms hadn't changed. They were still staggeringly bright, white, and beautiful. Marble glistened, furniture blinded, and the view of the city below her terrace taunted her just as cruelly as it had five years ago.<p>

Raven hated her rooms.

Sometimes, she had missed Azarath so much it hurt. She missed the monks and the monastery and the libraries. She missed the smell of incense and candles in the air and the calm that washed over her with each breath. She missed the meditation. She missed the quiet.

She did not miss her rooms.

"Arella, I did not come here to argue with you," Raven said to her mother. Again.

Arella paced back and forth, her delicate brow crunched in frustration. It didn't look right on her face. "Would you have even come back at all if you and that—that—"

"His name is Beast Boy."

"Beast Boy. Of course." Arella shook her head disapprovingly.

"I've written you about him," Raven reminded. "And Cyborg."

Arella sighed. "I remember. I also remember that not everything was very flattering."

Raven guessed this situation didn't help her mother's opinion of her friends very much. "I didn't want to come home like this."

"Desperate matters, I suppose."

"You have no idea," Raven muttered under her breath.

Arella sighed again, then sat next to her daughter on the edge of the bed. She held Raven's hands under her own. "Would you have come back?"

"I'm not here to stay, Mother. I'm here for help."

"So no." Arella attempted a smile and even though it was sad, it was still beautiful. It reminded Raven of Starfire, the unconditional beauty, and the ache to return to Jump City almost crushed her.

"Mother—"

Arella patted Raven's hands lightly, then stood up. She lifted her hood over her head and kept her back to Raven. "I do not know what you think we can help you with. The monks taught you everything they could before you left."

"I wasn't expected to come back." But her rooms were pristine. They _had_ waited for her. Maybe if she had known that while she was gone, she would have been more eager to return. "This isn't about _him _or controlling his power over me. This is about _my_ demon."

"They are one and the same."

"No." Raven stood, staring at the back of Arella's hood. "No, this is different. I can feel it. This isn't Trigon. This is me. Something in me that is dark and terrible. Something that has nothing to do with Trigon."

"Raven—"

"Mother, there has to be something that can be done. Back home, we tried everything. I meditated as much as I could. Beast Boy indulged his Beast about everything he was willing to. We even spent a month as part of different teams, just to get away from each other. Nothing worked. You have to help us."

"Did you consult the books?"

"We tried _everything_."

Arella said nothing for a long time. Raven's anger rose with each passing second and her breaths grew longer as she tried to calm down. Just when she thought she couldn't hold off any longer, Arella turned.

"Ignatius and I will do everything we can."

Raven let out a sigh of relief. She was so grateful she nearly smiled. "Thank you."

Arella nodded and spun on her heel to leave. In the doorway, she paused. "Welcome home, my child."

Then Raven was alone.

She sighed. What she needed now was a nice, long meditation session.

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><p>AN: Nice people are nice! I appreciate all the faves and follows, even if it might not look like much. This is my first story and every little bit of support is lovely! Special shout out to those that left reviews so far: simply duplicity, Randamwriter, RosesAndRavens, and js12601! Thanks guys!

So I remembered some stuff I wanted mention before. Azarath and Arella won't look like how they were in "The Prophecy," mostly because I forgot what they looked like but I have some sort of explanation for why, in case anyone is interested. It'll probably be mentioned in a later chapter. Other than that, keeping everyone in character is really hard so I hope I didn't do too bad a job. I think Raven's the hardest one to really get a handle on. So forgive me for anything that seems off and feel free to point it out! Thanks again for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans but not quite as boldly

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><p>About an hour later, Raven searched the monastery grounds for Beast Boy and Cyborg's auras. It didn't take very long; their feelings were much louder than those of the monks. With a slight shock, she found them all the way on the opposite end of the monastery then shook her head. Her mother must have been the one to put them there.<p>

Creating the portal to Azarath had left her weakened, but the meditation recharged her batteries just enough to teleport the opposite end of the monastery.

And really, she shouldn't have been all that surprised by what she found there, either.

She appeared on the inside of the entry of their rooms. They were a little smaller than hers, but they were just guest quarters. No less disgustingly white. The only real difference were the sliding doors on either side of the living room. She was about to venture deeper into the room, wondering why the coffee table was off center, and opened her mouth to call for her friends, when the sliding doors flew open and pillows were launched from both rooms, directed at the other.

The pillows collided in the middle of the room and were followed by two loud battle cries. Beast Boy ran out of the room on the left and Cyborg out of the right, both wielding pillows. They leaped over the couches and attacked each other with the viciousness of a pair of ten year olds.

Raven sighed and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. Of course, the first thing these two would do when they found themselves in a new dimension was wage a pillow war. They might've grown up in the last few years, but some things never changed: they could still be immature pinheads.

One more deep breath and she opened her eyes. She gave them a moment to notice her but when they didn't, she cleared her throat.

They both froze mid swing, pillows hanging over their heads, and looked at her.

"Raven!" Beast Boy beamed.

Cyborg finished his attack, smacking the changeling square in the face hard enough to send him flying onto the couch.

"Winner!" Cyborg announced, holding his pillow in the air proudly.

"No fair! I was distracted!"

"That's your own fault," Cyborg replied dismissively.

"No way! I call seven outta thirteen!"

"Better luck next time, grass stain." Cyborg grinned at Raven. "Welcome to our not-so-humble abode, Rae. Something to drink? The kitchen's fully stocked."

"That's okay."

"Your loss. I could use a soda." He bowed with a flourish of his arms and Raven let herself smile.

"What about me?" Beast Boy whined, making himself comfortable sprawled out on the couch. "I'm thirsty."

"Get it yourself, green bean."

Beast Boy pouted up at Raven as she settled down on the couch across from him. "He's so mean to me."

"My regards," she said, rolling her eyes.

"You're mean too!"

"I'll work on that." She watched him grumble a bit before saying, "How do you two feel about a tour?"

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><p>Everything was so…clean.<p>

Endless halls of marble, some white, some gray, some gold. All glistening. Beast Boy was entirely too conscious of the dirt on the bottom of his shoes. Every now and then they'd pass a table made of white wood and wood doorways and he couldn't help but think they looked a little weird surrounded by all that shiny marble.

Paintings of landscapes and people were everywhere, but never the same one twice. But that woman was everywhere, the same woman overlooking the dining hall from earlier, and on the ground in front of each painting sat at least one candle. She watched over them with kind eyes and the hint of a smile, and even though it was her every time, something was always different about her.

At the nineteenth painting they passed, Beast Boy paused and met her eyes. "Hey, Rae, who is this lady? She's everywhere."

"She should be," she said, coming up next to him. "This is her monastery. Her name is Azar. She's this spiritual leader of Azarath."

"Why does she look different in every painting?" Cyborg asked. Beast Boy was glad it wasn't just him. He would've thought he was going crazy.

"Azar likes her privacy," she said. "She doesn't make public appearances very often and she detests posing, so people have to paint her based on memory. Not everybody's memory is terribly exact."

"Huh," Cyborg grunted.

"Were you expecting something more interesting? Some out of this world, magical, mystical reason that is completely impossible and makes no sense whatsoever?"

"Yeah," Cyborg and Beast Boy said.

"Of course you were." She rolled her eyes and started off down the hallway again.

"Can you blame us?" Beast Boy said, taking off after her, Cyborg in tow. "We're in a totally different dimension, dude! The sky is _red!_ Who knows what else is different?"

"We're in another dimension, not on another planet. Things aren't too different."

Beast Boy crossed his arms, grumbling. Could she really blame him for thinking that? Raven was a mystery all her own. The place she was from couldn't be as straightforward as she made it seem.

"Hey, where are you taking us, Rae?" asked Cyborg. "As far as tours go, this hasn't been a very tour-like one."

"The east wing library," she told them.

"Aaand why are we going there?" Beast Boy wondered.

"Arella and Ignatius agreed to help us but I want to do some research of our own."

"Aw man," he whined. "That sounds like a lot of reading."

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><p>He was right.<p>

The east wing library was huge, at least twice the size of Starfire's favorite mall and even more daunting. Countless rows of black shelves filled with books loomed over them and some stacks even spilled onto the ground. At least now it was clear where Raven's taste in furniture came from. The library, in addition to being the only room they'd seen be have carpeted floors, had black walls. Beast Boy didn't think it was marble; it smelled different from everywhere else they'd been but he couldn't pinpoint the scent. Either way, instead of being intimidating, it felt more comfortable. He didn't feel overwhelmed or blinded; more like he could roll up on the velvety purple carpet under the glow of one of chandeliers and take a nice nap with a book for a pillow.

But they were there for a reason and it wasn't for him to catch up on his beauty sleep.

That didn't stop him from dozing. When his head slipped off his hand for the fifth time, he looked over at Raven to see if maybe they were due for a snack break any time soon. She levitated crossed legged over one of the tables they'd set up on, four books floating around her as she used her powers to flip through them. She skimmed all four books and plucked another four off the shelves.

With a grunt, Cyborg dropped another disgustingly huge pile of books on the table next to Beast Boy then sat down to get back to work.

"Why do we have to be here, anyway?" Beast Boy muttered. "Raven could read this entire library by herself in a day."

Cyborg shrugged. "It's not like we have any other plans. Besides, did you forget that this is your problem too?"

Beast Boy sighed, letting his head fall. "I've been trying to."

Cyborg frowned and looked at him for a moment then glanced at Raven. "Have you talked to her about this whole thing since it started? You know, alone?"

Beast Boy shifted in his seat, suddenly all too eager to keep reading. "Not-not really, I guess. Things've been, you know, weird. We've been busy."

"Busy avoiding each other," Cyborg scoffed.

"That's not—"

"Will you two shut up?" Raven barked. That vein in her forehead was almost on the verge of exploding.

"Sorry," they murmured. Beast Boy glared at Cyborg then started half-heartedly flipping through his book.

Cyborg sent Raven another glance, affirming that she wasn't looking at them, then elbowed Beast Boy in the ribs. He pointed at Raven and mouthed, "Talk to her."

Beast Boy's eyes widened and he shook his head. "No way," he mouthed back.

Cyborg jabbed his side again. "Talk to her."

"No."

"Talk to her!"

"No way!"

"Can you two focus for two seconds?" Raven snarled.

Beast Boy glared at Cyborg, who at least had the sense to look guilty when he smiled.

"We've been focusing for two hours already, Rae," Beast Boy pointed out, not all that excited to upset Raven more but annoyed that she was snapping at them.

"You've been sleeping for two hours," she retorted.

"Hey—"

"You know," Cyborg said loudly, giving Beast Boy a pointed look. "After two hours I could really use a visit to the little robot's room." He got to his feet and started heading to the exit. "I'll just go find one then I'll be right back." Over Raven's head, he caught Beast Boy's eye and gestured wildly at her. "Talk to her!" he mouthed.

Beast Boy waved him off angrily, earning a glower from Raven. He tried to cover it up by scratching the back of his head and chuckling awkwardly. "Heh, Cy's crazy. Robots don't use the bathroom. Heh, heh." He cleared his throat and pointed to the book in front of him. "I'll just—yeah."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes, then returned her attention to reading. Even though he knew he shouldn't—he really didn't need to make Raven even more pissed—he stared at her. Not in a creepy sort of way—okay, well maybe a little creepy. But he couldn't help it.

Cyborg wasn't too far off when he said they were avoiding each other. If they were left alone, Beast Boy couldn't be sure how things would end up. He'd rather give up talking to Raven than risk hurting her. For the past six months, things with Raven have been more…complicated than usual. The last time they were alone, they woke up covered in blood, scratches, and not much else.

Still, no matter what, Raven was his friend—a friend whose mom now had a very good reason for hating him, but a friend nonetheless. And friends talked to each other.

Now how did he get Raven to see that?

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><p>AN: Since I'm still new to the site I'm not really sure what replying etiquette entails to you lovely people so a giant collective thanks to everyone who's reviewed! We've reached the double digits here, guys. Whew. Thanks for your hard work!

Anyway, cliffhanger? Cliffhanger.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The owner of Teen Titans is not this writer but she wouldn't mind that kind of power.

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><p>Cyborg checked the time on his arm—again. Ten minutes since he left the library and sat down right in front of the entrance. He still heard no talking. He sighed and shook his head.<p>

Sometimes his friends were idiots.

* * *

><p>Beast Boy was still trying to gather his courage. She could feel it.<p>

Out of the corner of her eye, Raven watched him flip through pages without seeing them, flip back to reread them, focus for a whole minute, look at her intending to say something, then go back to his book. And repeat.

She sighed inwardly and cursed Cyborg for leaving. She felt his presence at the entrance of the library and was positive that was part of his plan. He'd been pushing the two of them together ever since this whole thing started. According to him, communication could fix almost every situation. And he deliberately chose to forget that when Raven and Beast Boy _communicated_ more bad than good came out of it. She felt his stubborn refusal to return, bombarding her in uneven pulses so strong that she _had_ to feel them, that she couldn't forget what he wanted even if she tried. And she tried—hard.

Why couldn't Cyborg just stay out of it?

It wasn't as if Raven didn't _want_ to talk to Beast Boy. They _should_ talk about what happened between them. Discuss it, deal with it, then move on. But if there was one thing Raven hated more than _feelings,_ it was being forced to talk about them when she wasn't ready. And it didn't exactly put her in the mood to deal with Beast Boy's awkwardness.

When he looked up at her for the sixth time, she was sure he was going to say something. He even opened his mouth this time. But then he closed it, shook his head, and looked back down.

Raven couldn't take it anymore.

"Beast Boy, if you have something to say to me then say it. If you don't, then stop staring at me."

Blood rushed to his face. He looked like a Christmas tree. "I-I-I'm not staring at you."

She rolled her eyes and traded the four books around her for another four. "Of course you aren't."

"I'm not!" he protested.

She nodded disbelievingly but at least he was talking. Maybe now Cyborg would be satisfied and they could get back to work.

"I, I just, um," he started. "I was, uh, wondering how you read all this stuff so fast. I'm still only on my third book."

"I start by actually reading the book."

"I am reading!" He pinched a page between his fingers and turned it harshly, to prove his point. "It's just my brain gets in the way of the words."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's usually not how it works."

"I just keep thinking. It's not my fault."

"You, thinking? I wasn't sure you knew how."

This was good. This almost felt normal. Next, he would raise his voice and tell her she was wrong, then she'd tell him to shut up, they were in a library, and things would be normal again. No feelings involved.

Only he didn't raise his voice and tell her she was wrong. Instead what came out of his mouth next was awkward and high pitched, and like he totally forgot how to talk to her.

"Um, so, do you—um, I mean, have you found anything yet?"

"If I did, I would have said something."

"Sooo…no?"

Raven sighed and elected not to answer. So, things weren't back to normal. But they tried and that had to be enough. She and Beast Boy talked, and nothing came out of it. Maybe now Cyborg would be satisfied and come back in. They still had an entire library to read. Just when she thought he was done and she could go back to focusing, Beast Boy decided to pipe up.

"Rae, can we talk?"

She closed her eyes and her eyebrow twitched. "Beast Boy, we are talking."

"No, but, like, I mean, you know, about—I mean, seriously. Can we talk seriously?"

"I'm always serious. You're the one that has a problem with serious."

"Rae."

And that was all it took for her and the books around her to drop from the air. She was just lucky there was a table under her to catch her fall. Ignoring the bruise growing on her butt, she stepped off the table, telling Beast Boy, "I'll be right back."

When she couldn't keep running, she ducked into an aisle and leaned heavily against a shelf. How far away, she wasn't sure but it wasn't far enough. Something tore up her stomach, sent a storm through her chest, and drowned out the entire world. No amount of breathing or chanting could make it stop. Two thoughts warred in her head.

_Get as far away from him as you can._

_Go back and remind that Beast who his master is._

Far away would never be far enough. She could still hear his voice ringing in her ears, saying her name. Her name—that was all it took.

Nicknames weren't Robin's thing and Starfire still didn't know how to use them properly, but Cyborg called her Rae. Bumble Bee called her Rae. Kid Flash called her Rae. (Jinx called her Rae-rae once and learned her lesson.) Beast Boy wasn't the only one that called her Rae.

So why did it sound so different coming from him?

"Raven?"

Beast Boy's voice broke through her thoughts. She looked up and found him at the end of the aisle, giving her a concerned look. He ran over and reached out, almost as if to touch her but never made contact.

"What's wrong?" he said, his hands hovering over her. "Are you okay? Is it—are you—"

"No, the demon's not coming out," she lied. "Making the portal just took a lot more energy than I thought it would. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You're looking a little pale."

She frowned and looked at him. Then glared at the sheepish smile he sent her. "Right. How's your stomach? You're looking a little green."

He full on grinned and the clawing at her insides increased. She turned to the books behind her, pretended to look for something, to hide her grimace.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" she said. "I told you I'd be right back."

"I know but it didn't sound all that convincing."

"Now I'm a liar?"

"What? No, I'm just saying—"

She spun on him. "What are you _just _saying, Beast Boy? Please, enlighten me."

He shrank back. Good. But he didn't back down that easily. "I'm saying that maybe you should stop avoiding me."

She scoffed. "I wasn't avoiding you. And even if I were—and I _wasn't_—you avoided me right back."

"A-and I'm saying that should stop." He was desperate and it tugged at her senses. "All this dancing around each other doesn't help anything. We need to, I dunno, talk to each other, like _really _talk to each other. That's what friends do and no matter what happens between us, at the very least we're friends, right?"

Friends. Raven froze. How could she have forgotten?

_You think you're alone, Raven. But you're not._

When she didn't say anything, Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck. His ears drooped. "Oh. O-okay, my bad. I guess not, then. Well, I'll just let you get back to your, uh, research. I'll be over—"

"Beast Boy—" Her hand whipped out and gripped his wrist. She didn't even think about it. The effects were immediate.

The clawing increased until it felt like guts were going to spill out all over the floor. Her grip around his wrist tightened and her other arm snaked around his neck. She pulled him closer but it wasn't close enough. She needed to be even closer. Closer. _Closer._

Suddenly he broke free of her grip and pushed her away with terrifying strength. She fell into the shelf and books tumbled around her as she tumbled to the ground.

Beast Boy screamed. He staggered back and pulled at his hair. He panted through his growing teeth and sharpening fangs. They spilled out of his mouth in the most horrifying way. His pupils dilated and he fell to his knees. Tears in his uniform sounded and long, thick fur sprouted all over his back.

Raven screamed. Something was trying to break out, something deep within her was trying to break out and the only exit it had was through Raven's stomach. On her knees, she raked her nails over her middle, breaking through the fabric of her leotard and the skin under it, staining her fingers with blood. The thing inside her tried to get out from the inside. She tried to get it out from the outside. If that thing were free it wouldn't hurt anymore.

Somewhere in the back of her head she heard her name. Clawed hands grabbed hers and pulled them away form her stomach. When she looked up, it wasn't into Beast Boy's bright green eyes but flat white marbles. His face was different, deformed, caught in the middle of a transformation, but the pain was evident. He hurt. _Bad._

But he was fighting.

Then he collapsed, fell into her like a rag doll, and in the haze of her agony she almost didn't catch him. For a moment the only thing she felt was him in her arms and a dull ache in her stomach.

She didn't expect the onslaught of pain that followed to be triple anything she'd ever felt.

She screamed.

* * *

><p>AN: Sooo. That happened. Got pretty dark pretty quick there, didn't it? Am I the only one that didn't see that coming? Yeah? Okay then.

I think I might get into the habit of posting on Fridays. That sounds like a good plan. Another thing, I noticed that these chapters are actually all pretty short in length. I hope that doesn't bother anyone too much. Just, where they end all seem like nice places to me. They may get longer as we go, but who knows. Nothing's stone here. (Speaking of, anyone else curious how this thing ends?)

Anyway. Cliffhangers? Cliffhangers.


	5. Chapter 5

_Raven!_

Beast Boy woke up with a gasp, sweat and damp cloth clinging to his skin. Panting, he tried to sit up but found that he couldn't move. He struggled and struggled but nothing gave. Lifting his head, he looked down at his body with a shock. Thick leather restraints wrapped around his chest, wrists, thighs, and ankles. His uniform was in shreds, the fabric hanging on only by the glue of his sweat. He made one last futile attempt to break free and he let his head fall back, eyes squeezed shut.

_Where am I? Why can't I remember anything?_

Moaning, he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. He was in an impressive blue room with rows of cots lined up against the walls. There were intricate designs and symbols etched into the walls, protruding with columns at even intervals around the room. The room was made of some sort of mineral of a grayish blue, swirling with white, like someone carved the room out of an ocean wave. His ears picked up on the light breathing and calm heartbeat of a person sleeping. Mixed in with the smells of medicine and alcohol, and an almost absence of smells that meant sterilization, was a hint of lavender.

Raven.

There she was, all the way on the other side of the room, hovering over a cot, alarmingly still.

Beast Boy's entire body shook. "No," he breathed. "No, not again. Not again."

He fought against his restraints, eyes on Raven. She was alive; he could hear it, smell it. He didn't believe it. She didn't _look_ alive. He fought harder and harder, whispering her name over and over again, until finally something gave. His left hand flew free and instantly went to work on the other straps. In seconds, he was released and by Raven's side.

He was surprised to find that her leotard had been traded for a white set of robes; she looked even more like her mother than before. Her chest rose and fell in a rhythm too slow for his comfort, but she was breathing and that was all that mattered. She wasn't moving. The last time he saw her like this, was the first time the Beast appeared.

He almost reached out to touch her, to feel that she was alive, but then memories of the library flooded into his head. The last thing he remembered was Raven touching him. He clenched his fist—maybe touching her now wasn't really the best idea.

"Raven," he murmured.

"Get away from her!"

Arella stormed down the center of the room in a way that reminded him enough of Raven for him to be scared for his life. When she reached Raven's cot, he scrambled over the next one then fell on his face on the other side. He laid on the ground and held up his hands. Arella stared down at him, nostrils flaring and one eyebrow twitching.

"Don't hurt me!" he squealed.

"She won't." He climbed to his knees and looked over the cot behind him, making sure to keep on his guard with Arella now at his back. Ignatius and Cyborg were making their way down the aisle. Ignatius sent Arella a warning look and continued. "She remembers her vows."

As Cyborg pulled him to his feet, Beast Boy muttered, "Vows?"

"Of pacifism," he answered.

Beast Boy sighed with relief and visibly relaxed.

"There are other ways to hurt you that do not require physical pain," Arella seethed.

He tensed again. "Uh…"

"How're you feeling, BB?" Cyborg asked. "You were out for a long time there."

"Scared and guilty," he replied. "How long?"

"Almost two days."

"You had us all very worried, Beast Boy," Ignatius told him. "You would not stop fighting, even in your sleep."

"Is that why there were those…"

"The restraints were for everyone's safety," Ignatius confirmed.

"You totally freaked, dude," Cyborg added. He pointed at his arms. "I even had to polish off some scratches."

Beast Boy looked at his feet. "Sorry."

"You were not supposed to be able to escape," Arella growled.

He wasn't sure if he was supposed to apologize for that. "What about Raven? Is she okay?"

"She's been better, that's for sure." A shadow crossed over Cyborg's face. "She hasn't been out for as long as you but getting to this stage took a long time. She wouldn't stop screaming."

"She's healing," Beast Boy said, more to himself than anyone else. Maybe if he said it out loud, she'd look less…like she lacked a pulse. A thought struck him so hard he almost fell over. "I didn't—I wasn't—did I?"

"No," Ignatius assured. "Her injuries were self-inflicted."

"She said it was trying to get out," Arella said, turning to look at her daughter. "She said she was trying to get it out."

Beast Boy didn't ask how.

* * *

><p>Arella wouldn't let him stay. Cyborg watched Ignatius lead his droopy eared friend out of the room and to the dining hall. Everyone had heard Beast Boy's stomach gurgling.<p>

Arella pulled up a stool to sit and watch Raven. Cyborg did the same.

"He really cares about her, you know," he said.

Arella glanced at him briefly, appraising him with skeptical eyes. Maybe looking for a loose screw. She pursed her lips and said nothing. She didn't look like she wanted to hear it but Cyborg had practice with that look. He wouldn't let it drop that easily.

"The first time it happened," he said, "when his Beast first appeared, we all thought he hurt her, too. She shut down just like this and he couldn't remember anything, so we all just assumed the worst. That it was his fault. It wasn't. He saved her. When we…went after him, he defended himself, sure, but it was mostly to protect her. He thought we were trying to hurt her, or something, so he reacted. But she was never in any danger from him. Not once. I guess what I'm trying to say is that even if Beast Boy looses control, we know the one person he would never hurt, _ever_, is Raven."

Arella was quiet for a long time. Cyborg grew increasingly uncomfortable after his speech, shifting in his seat and half wishing he'd kept his busybody mouth shut. The silence gave him time to remember the incident before Beast Boy changed, in the hall when something happened between him and Raven and he was this close to attacking her. The silence gave him time to doubt himself. But he shook off those thoughts as soon as they came. He was right and he knew it. Getting Arella to see that would be the challenge.

Finally Arella said, "My daughter's physical safety has never been in question."

He couldn't say anything to that.

* * *

><p>Beast Boy couldn't look Ignatius in the eye and it wasn't an issue of height. He felt weak and his limbs felt wet noodle-y and an icky feeling bubbled from his stomach, through his chest, and up his throat. A loud belch escaped his mouth just as they entered the dining hall and it echoed in the room. He gave Ignatius a sheepish smile. "Sorry."<p>

Ignatius shook off his aplogy and looked at him, concerned. "Raven said that your stomach was not an issue related to this Beast of yours. Is she right?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "Yes and no, I guess. Part of it is that me and him—it don't really have the same taste in food. It likes reminding me of that a _lot_."

"And the other part?"

He hesitated before answering. "It's this place. It's totally different from back home."

Ignatius chuckled. "I suppose inter-dimensional travel can do that to you. Here we are." He stopped at the end of a table. On it was a bowl of fruit and a covered plate. A familiar scent filled Beast Boy's nose and sent his mouth watering.

His eyes sparkled. "Don't tell me—" He leaped at the plate and threw off the cover and nearly sobbed with joy. "Tofu!"

"Raven has told us of your out of the ordinary food preferences," Ignatius said, smiling. "It was hard to find, but I hope it is to your liking."

"Dude, I have never been so happy to see tofu in my entire life. And that's saying something. Just ask Cyborg."

He scarfed down his food and in two minutes flat the table was empty. He leaned back and let out a satisfied belch. "Thanks!"

Ignatius couldn't hide his horrified expression fast enough and cleared his throat. "Well."

"Sorry," Beast Boy said awkwardly. "I haven't been eating too great lately." He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. Ignatius made no move to get up so Beast Boy wasn't entirely sure what he should do now. Even if he did decided to leave, he wasn't positive he could find the way back to his room on his own. While he scrambled his brains for something to say—and it was a hard task, since he didn't need to do that often—he was struck by something he'd always wondered. Ignatius seemed like the perfect person to ask. "So Raven, like, grew up here, right? Were you there?"

Ignatius nodded.

"What was she like as a kid? I mean, I know what she's like now, but what was kiddy-Raven like?"

Ignatius smiled fondly. "In some aspects, she is not that different now from when she was a child. She preferred to spend her time in the libraries, surrounded by books rather than people. The east wing library was always her favorite. There were nights she would not even come back to her rooms and instead spend it pouring herself into a book."

Beast Boy smiled. Yep, that sounded like Raven.

Suddenly Ignatius looked like he found it difficult to speak. "But she was lonely and—sad. She didn't fully comprehend the mechanics of her powers. Azar tried to teach her, but children so hardly understand how powerful emotions truly are. She had to learn the hard way. After that, she spent more time in the libraries. I suppose to her, avoiding people and her emotions is her way of controlling them."

Yeah, that sounded like Raven, too.

* * *

><p>AN: So, not so cliffhanger-y, right? How's everyone's week been? Good, I hope.

Pleasantries are weird. I'm not entirely sure where that came from.


	6. Chapter 6

Raven sighed with relief and leaned against the door as it clicked shut behind her. From the moment Raven woke up, Arella hovered endlessly. Even when she requested to have dinner in her rooms privately, Arella agreed that being alone was a good idea and then proceeded to follow her to enjoy their meal together. After a series of subtle and not-so-subtle hints dropped by Raven, it took an exaggerated act of fatigue for Arella to finally leave her alone.

Now that she was by herself, nothing sounded better than a nice warm cup of herbal tea.

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

Raven growled, spun, then threw the door open with an enraged, "Arella!"

Only to look into Cyborg's surprised face.

"You call your mom by her first name?"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "What are you doing here?"

"Ignatius told me where your room was." He past her. "Mind if I come in?"

"No, please, help yourself," she said dryly.

"Don't mind if I do."

Ten minutes later, when Raven had a steaming cup of herbal tea to warm her hands and Cyborg popped open a soda, they settled down on opposite couches and faced each other.

"You never told us you were raised in the lap of luxury," Cyborg grunted, sipping his drink appreciatively. He put it down on the table and let the plush couch envelope him, his arms spread out on the back of the couch.

"It's not all that luxurious," she told him. "Besides, I didn't spend that much time in this part of the monastery."

"Where were you most of the time?" When she gave him a look, he shrugged. "I told you, it wasn't a very good tour."

She sighed. "The meditation rooms. The libraries. Anywhere that wasn't here."

He waited but when she didn't elaborate, he nodded and leaned forward, elbows on his knees and eyes on her. "Okay. You don't feel like talking about your childhood. I get it. No questions asked about the past, right? Well then, how about we talk about something else."

She didn't like where this was going.

"The weather's a bit odd—it's perfect all the time. I sort of miss the heat. Is it summer here too or are the seasons different from back home? Speaking of back home, is there a pizza place around here? Don't get me wrong, I love meat as much as the next guy, but I could do with my four basic food groups: bread, cheese, pepperoni, and tomato sauce. What's with all the fruit around here, anyway? I mean—"

"Cyborg," she said.

"Raven."

"If you're here to talk about Beast Boy you might as well get out now."

He feigned innocence. "Beast Boy? Who said anything about Beast Boy? But since you brought him up—"

"That's it." She stood up and turned her back on him, stepping into her bedroom. She looked at him and said, "I am not talking to you about this right now." Then she promptly slammed the doors, which was made difficult by the fact that they were sliding doors.

Instead of getting the hint and leaving—or rather, completely disregarding the hint and stubbornly staying—he just called, "So when is a good time?"

"Cyborg!" she barked. She walked across the room to another pair of sliding doors, opened them, then stepped into her closet. It was every bit as grand as the rest of her rooms with one tiny improvement: blue. Her robes and cloaks lined the walls, a welcome relief from the never ending glimmer that made up most of her surroundings. Time to get out of this silly white robe; it made her look like a ghost.

Cyborg's voice was muffled when he opened his mouth again but his message was clear. "You can't avoid this forever."

"I don't plan on avoiding anything forever," she called, then added under her breath, "Just until this whole mess is over with."

"You have to talk to him sometime."

"I _did_ talk to him, Cyborg, thanks to you. And look what happened. We were both out of commission for two days."

"We aren't in Jump City anymore, Rae," he reminded her. "You don't have to worry about being out of commission for anything. There are no bad guys around here to bother us. Our only focus is solving whatever it is that's wrong with you two. Part of the plan, remember?"

Finally she stormed out of her room, having traded her white robe for a slightly more flattering blue one and immediately she glowered at him. "Exactly. Me and Beast Boy _talking_ to each other was not, and is not, part of the plan."

He sighed, as if she were the one being difficult. "Fine, if you don't think that fixing your _friendship_ is important—"

"That's not what I said—"

"—then think about it this way. Your demon and his Beast are drawn to each other for a reason. _Talking_ to him might help us figure out that reason and bring us one step closer to making this problem go away. Then you can go right back to stomping all over my best friend's feelings."

"Cyborg—"

He gulped down the last of his soda, belched, then stood up. "Rae, you know I care about you, but I care about the little guy too. This whole thing between the two of you is beating him up inside. You're an empath. You get that he feels like he's lost someone important to him—_really_ important. He misses his friend, Rae."

"I miss mine, too, Cyborg."

It escaped her lips before she could even attempt to stop it. They both blinked, surprised. He recovered first, smirking at her with his arms crossed. She rubbed her temples with one hand, covering her face, and sighed. This was about to get personal and mushy—she should've made more tea. Reluctantly, she sat next to Cyborg and stared at the empty couch in front of her. Maybe this would be easier if she didn't have to see his face.

"You are one of my closest friends, Cyborg, so I am going to trust that anything said in the next five minutes will never leave this room and, if ever repeated, you are going to fully cooperate when I use your amputated arm to demolish your baby."

"Uuuh…okay—I think."

"No matter what I may say or how I may act, I really do care about…him. I consider him one of my closest friends, too. And I appreciate him, in my own way. And I think that he should always have that stupid smile on his stupid face and I think that me being the reason that it's not there right now is the most horrible thing I've ever done to him. You have to get that I don't mean to hurt him or to purposely ignore his feelings. It's just that I'm trying to get through this so that we both come out of it with the least amount of scars possible as fast as possible. I just want this whole thing to be over with so that we can go back to normal."

Cyborg looked at her, appraising her almost scientifically, like she was a specimen he was preparing to dissect. She was surprised when the thought that fought its way to the front of her mind was, _Maybe he doesn't believe me._ But it was Cyborg. One of the first and few people to see her, really _see_ her for who she was and not be afraid. He was one of the first people she'd ever met that wholly accepted her and told her it was okay to be different—one of the few people to truly understand what being "different" actually meant. And he was one of the only people in any dimension that she could never lie to directly to his face. She might skirt around the truth and keep things from him for his protection, but everything that ever came out of her mouth in his presence was the absolute and complete truth. This was no different.

After too long of his bone crushing silence, finally he said, "Rae, what exactly are you afraid of?"

She couldn't help it—she glared. But the full effect of it was lost since he wasn't sitting on the couch she was glaring at. "I'm not afraid of anything. What does that have to do with what I just said? Were you even listening?"

"Rae," he said, firmer, gentler. He laid a hand lightly on her shoulder. "I get it. You care about him and you don't want to hurt him but…there are other ways to hurt him that don't require physical pain."

She frowned. Where had she heard that before?

"You know BB. This whole thing is killing him. He thinks it's his fault."

"That's ridiculous. This is nobody's fault. This isn't something we can just control."

"Maybe you should try telling _him _that instead of the couch."

She couldn't bring herself to glare at him directly for that.

He chuckled. "Look, Rae, if you really want, I won't let you guys be alone. I'll be right there for both of you, like always. I can stand outside the door in case things start going wrong, but I can't keep hovering over you guys. I can't keep playing the monkey."

_That_ he deserved a look for. "What?"

"You know. Monkey in the middle?"

"That makes no sense."

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't. The people on the outside are trying to keep the ball _away_ from the person in the middle. That doesn't apply here."

"Just accept it, you know what I mean," he said pointedly. "Anyway. Right outside the door. But this thing is between you and Beast Boy. Maybe you can't fix the situation by talking to each other, but you'll both feel a lot better afterwards. I promise."

She scoffed. "I doubt that."

"Fine," he said, crossing his arms. "Don't do it 'cause I'm telling you to. Don't do it for you. Do it for Beast Boy."

She gave him a proper glare—then sighed in defeat. "That was just low."

"Titans Annual Picnic Limbo Champ, three years running, baby."

* * *

><p>AN: I'm late! By one day, I know, but still. I feel bad. I feel even worse because there won't be an update next week at all. I'm really sorry!

Anyway, I realized that there's been a lot of talking and not talking going on, but hopefully, if not the next chapter then the one after that, stuff will actually _happen._ So yeah. Other than that, I like this chapter. Even if I didn't keep Raven and Cyborg completely in character, I think they're relationship is amazing and I hope I did it justice.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer (times two because I forgot last chapter): I am but a mere broke college student who owns nothing but major headache right now

* * *

><p>He was stronger than before.<p>

The human tried to contain him, to _control_ him, but he was stronger than before. _Smarter_ than before. Smart enough to realize that his true body was not made for stealth. It was made for power and force, for fighting and protecting, for sensing threats and eliminating them. It was made for many things, but stealth was not one of them. So, as he crept down the dark halls, he borrowed one of the forms the human had at his disposal.

He disliked this form especially. It was too small for the echoing buzzing sound it made and much more delicate than he was used to. Even worse, his senses were too different in this form. The trembling candlelight that sprinkled the halls was overwhelming and it was much too difficult to untangle the mingled scents and keep track of the one he yearned for. Its one advantage was its speed. If he kept the scent's trail in his mind for long enough, he didn't need his smell to find it. And when the memory eluded him, he reverted back to his original shape, took a deep whiff, and returned to the form he was borrowing to continue flying along before anyone could notice.

The trail led him under the crack of a large white door and he paused before it, planning his next step, before slipping under. In the porcelain white room, he traded the feeble form he'd been wearing for his own and breathed in deep through his nostrils. The scent was weaker—he'd noticed it before, in the halls, when he first sought it out—but it was still as mesmerizing as before. Even more of a treasure, since he had to work that much harder to identify it from the mess of smells that plagued this place. Amidst the spices, odors, and scented candles, was the weak and dwindling, yet still persevering, scent of lavender.

He followed his nose to where the smell was strongest, to a set of doors. Lavender wafted up from under the crack. He considered the doors for a moment; they were familiar. He recalled the human encountering these doors before and, remembering the way the Human had done it, reached up a clawed hand to slide the doors open. It took him more than one try and the sound of his claws scratching against the wood made him flinch. When he finally managed it open, he paused and breathed in deep. This was it.

Trembling, he hulked his mass slowly over to the bed, inhaling the hypnotizing lavender, mixed in with all the natural smells that he always associated with _her_. He loomed over the bed, staring down at her. The faint, pure white moonlight seeping into the room made her pale skin glow. She lay on her back with her head to one side and her silk violet hair spilled onto the pillows.

_Raven._

That was what the human called her. The human thought it was a beautiful name.

He growled and purred and ran a claw down the side of her face, careful not to disturb her slumber. But in his excitement, he applied too much pressure and a thin red line appeared on her temple. She flinched but did not awake. He cursed himself, huffing angrily but as quietly as he could manage. He ran his fingers over her hair before leaning down and delicately lapped his tongue over the scratch. She made a noise, once again flinching and once again staying asleep. He leaned back on his haunches and made sure the scratch had disappeared. A whine escaped from deep in his chest. Almost apologetically—and completely regretfully—he pulled away.

He would see her again, he reminded himself. He would see her soon.

* * *

><p>The yellow sun warmed Beast Boy's face, slowly nudging him into the realm of consciousness. He resisted at first, begged his body to sleep for five more minutes, until he realized that not only was he fully rested and feeling amazing, but something was very, very wrong. When he opened his eyes and pushed himself up to lean on his arms, he didn't look down at the pure white sheets of the bed he tucked himself into last night.<p>

He was on the couch, in the living room, hovering over a dark patch of fabric where he had been drooling.

And despite the swell of energy that told him to jump up and embrace the day with open arms, he remained on his stomach and stared dreadfully at the couch.

Because when Beast Boy fell asleep in one place and woke up in another, it only meant one thing. And wasn't that he sleep walked to the kitchen and raided the fridge.

* * *

><p>Ignatius had arrived early to their rooms and invited them to join him and the other monks in the dining hall, as they had "quite a bit to discuss." Beast Boy had politely turned him down, opting instead for some of the food they had in the kitchen, and Cyborg decided to keep his friend company. Ignatius left them, telling them that he would return after breakfast, then.<p>

But as they sat across form each other in the living room, Beast Boy wished that Cyborg had gone with Ignatius.

Beast Boy poked and prodded his fruit salad and kept his head down. He'd changed into the clothes Ignatius had put into his room, surprised to find that jeans and T-shirts existed in this dimension too. But lucky as he was that they didn't try to get him in one of those robes, he couldn't calm down.

Cyborg never looked so much like a robot than when he was examining his friends—and he'd been doing that a lot lately.

"You sure you're okay there, BB?" he asked, scrutinizing Beast Boy uncomfortably closely. He was only half paying attention to the large spoonfuls of cereal he scooped into his mouth.

"Course I am, Cy," Beast Boy said, avoiding his friend's eyes. He laughed awkwardly and jammed half his fruit salad in his mouth. Juices dribbled down his chin as he spoke. "Why wouldn't I be, dude? I'm great. Better than great, I'm…fine."

Cyborg smiled skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "You'd think after five years, you'd learn to be a better liar."

"I'm a great liar," Beast Boy replied immediately. Realizing his mistake, he forced down the half chewed fruit and waved his hands frantically. "I mean—not that I'm lying right now! 'Cause I'm not! I'm totally telling the truth right now! I'm fine!"

Cyborg nodded, waiting.

Beast Boy deflated. "I'm a terrible liar, aren't I?"

"Now you're catching on."

Okay, so Beast Boy was a terrible liar. But at least he was stubborn as hell.

So an hour later, when Ignatius returned, he found them on one couch, Cyborg sitting on Beast Boy's back as he shoved Beast Boy's face into the cushions, yelling at him to eat couch until he told Cyborg what was bugging him, while Beast Boy, struggling, insisted that he was fine and that he loved the taste of couch cushion in the morning.

They froze and Beast Boy had a sense that something like this happened before.

"Hey, Ig-man!" Beast Boy said happily, his voice muffled. "What's up, dude?"

Ignatius didn't seem to know what to make of them and was a moment until he recovered himself enough to say, "Arella and I have an idea that might help you."

* * *

><p>It wasn't a solution. Ignatius made that very clear.<p>

"We believe that reading through libraries and coming up with theories is not the best approach to your problem," he said, frowning at that last word. "Raven explained to us that your two separate problems conspire to create one."

"So to get to the bottom of the whole thing, we're going to get to the bottom of both problems separately," Cyborg said. He crossed his arms over his chest and rubbed his chin in thought.

"By jumping inside our heads," finished Beast Boy.

They were back on the deck the Titans had landed on when they first arrived. Odorless yellow candles dotted the terrace. Detailed runes scratched in red chalk covered most of the marble floor in an intricate web of lines. In the center of the terrace were a single metal bowl and a knife. All necessary for the kind of spell that was about to take place, according to Ignatius.

Beast Boy just hoped that the knife didn't play as big a role in it as the bowl did.

If he were being completely honest, none of it still made any sense to him, but he would feel bad if he asked Ignatius to explain a fifth time. Even the amiable monk had to have a limit to his patience, and Beast Boy got the feeling he was getting there fast.

Despite how little he understood, he got enough to think that Arella and Ignatius's idea took the phrase "invasion of privacy" a little too literally.

"Sooo," Beast Boy said uneasily. "Like, what kind of magic is this supposed to be? Because Raven's magic doesn't use so much…stuff."

"Raven's magic primarily comes from her father," Ignatius explained. "It's different from the magic of Azarath, but fundamentally the same. Both require a strong mind, will, and intense focus. Any tools we use are to help ground our focus. In Raven's case, her body is the tool she uses to focus."

That made sense, he guessed. Or at least as much sense as it would to him.

"Okay, but I'm still not sure about this," he said, eyeing Ignatius's set up warily.

"I am," said Cyborg, nodding confidently. "I think it might work."

"Are you kidding?" Beast Boy asked incredulously. "How can you be sure? We tried something like this already, remember? Trying to figure out what was wrong with me and then with Raven on our own? And it didn't work! That's why we're here."

"That's because we didn't have something like this set up to find out the whole story. We had to figure it all out on what you and Raven told us." He gave Beast Boy a sidelong glance, completely void of his usual humor. "And you guys didn't tell us everything. Don't think I didn't notice."

Beast Boy actually prayed that he hadn't.

It was easier to hide things from Robin and Starfire. As long as Robin had a concrete answer (usually being "Everyone's fine," "Whatever you say, Robin," or "No, I wasn't the one that put super glue in your hair gel"), the super sleuth respected his teammates' privacy enough not to go snooping too much—or, at the very least, he respected Raven's privacy that much. Starfire trusted every one of her friends so deeply, it would never occur to her to second-guess them. Robin and Starfire both asked the kinds of questions Beast Boy and Raven had expected and accepted the truth Beast Boy and Raven had told them.

And Beast Boy and Raven had told their team the truth.

Just not all of it.

Leave it to Cyborg to be the one to figure that out.

Beast Boy sighed inwardly. Cyborg knew them too damn well.

Luckily, at that moment, the terrace doors opened and Raven and Arella marched over. Beast Boy hadn't seen either of them since he woke up, two days ago, and one of them had been unconscious at the time. Arella looked the same, down to the thin lipped frown she gave him, but Raven had traded her torn leotard and cape for a robe similar to Arella's except for the color. Raven's was dark blue, nearly black, even darker than her clothes back home. Despite the outfit change, her hood was pulled up and her eyes glowed in the shadows, as usual. Beast Boy wasn't sure if he was disappointed she had covered her face or relieved that something in this foreign place was so familiar.

He nearly jumped when she turned her eyes to his.

"Are you ready?" she said.

"Uh…" His eyes slid back to the runes, the bowl, and, more specifically, the knife. "Do I have to go first?"

"Yes," she replied immediately. When Beast Boy still hesitated, she said, "You might as well just get it over with now. It's not like you really have a choice anyway."

"Yeah," he said weakly, dragging the word out. With Raven here, he felt a little less unsure about it, but at the same time, a little extra comfort never hurt anyone. "You're…you're doing it too, right?"

She rolled her eyes with a huff, crossing her arms and popping one hip out in that way that meant she was both annoyed and impatient. "Yes, Beast Boy. Right after you."

_Well,_ he thought, _if Raven's doing it, it can't be all that bad. Right?_

He gulped. "Okay. How does this work?"

Ignatius directed him to sit cross-legged on one side of the bowl in the center of the rune web before sitting across from him. He was talking the whole time, explaining what was about to happen, but Beast Boy's nerves clogged his ears and he couldn't hear a word. Until Raven sat down, putting Beast Boy on one side and Ignatius on the other.

"What are you doing?" Beast Boy said.

"Enjoying the breeze," she deadpanned.

"Wha—you're not going inside my head, too," he protested. He glanced at Ignatius. "Is she?"

"Yes," she said. "I am."

She crossed her arms over her chest and sat up straight, meeting Beast Boy's look with heated eyes. Daring him to challenge her.

Meanwhile, in the corner of his eye, Cyborg was torn between falling apart with worry and exploding with laughter.

* * *

><p>AN: Yay! New chapter! And stuff is happening! YayX2!

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while (almost a month, I think. Yikes.) but for anyone curious, you are now reading the fanfiction of a two time NaNoWriMo winner. Whoo!

In other news, a nice guest reviewer (hi, indigo!) pointed out that Azar is, in fact, female. I'll be honest, I didn't do my research thoroughly before I started writing this, so that was a shock to me. But I went back and fixed the pronouns. I think I caught all of them, but if someone sees anything I missed please point it out! And, for the record, I love being corrected. It means people are reading (gasp!). So thanks, indigo! Hope you're still reading! (Along with everyone else, but indigo's a guest. We must be extra polite.)


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I boldly state that I do not own the Teen Titans. But I did get an awesome Teen Titans T-shirt for Christmas and I love it with all my heart.**

* * *

><p>The entire ceremony used too much blood for Raven's taste. Although she would have much rather used her own powers, she wasn't positive she could keep them in check. The only reason she had agreed to the ceremony at all was because her control over her powers was slipping and the cause of all her emotional turmoil sat about a foot to her left.<p>

Beast Boy—oblivious as always to the stupid _feelings_ he stirred up within her—hesitated when Ignatius handed him the knife and told him to spill some blood into the bowl. Somehow, it looked wrong in his bare hands. It wasn't a big knife, the blade just a bit longer than Raven's forefinger, but the way it glistened in Beast Boy's grip made her frown. She wasn't sure she had ever seen him wield a weapon in the entire time she'd known him.

After a moment, he poised his hands over the bowl and the knife at the edge of his wrist and asked how much blood it needed.

He filled a quarter of the bowl before handing the knife to Ignatius, who cleaned the blade. He and Raven both pricked their fingers and dropped a bead of blood into the bowl.

"That's not fair," Beast Boy grumbled. He looked pale, although if it was from the loss of blood or the sight of it, Raven wasn't sure. "I lose more blood than in all the _Wicked Scary_ movies combined and you guys just poke and done? I'm starting to like this thing less and less." He held his wrist up to his mouth, lapping up the blood until it stopped.

Without a word, Raven lifted a hand to Beast Boy's wrist and healed it.

"Now, relax, Beast Boy," Ignatius told him. He dipped a finger into the bowl and drew a rune on the palm of his right hand. Raven drew the same on her left.

"I'm sitting in front of a bowl of my own blood in an alternate dimension, waiting for people to pop inside my head like they're going on vacation in Italy," he said, chuckling weakly. "Why wouldn't I be relaxed?"

"Good," Ignatius said, nodding. He pressed three fingers against Beast Boy's left temple with his rune-covered hand and took Raven's clean one with his free hand. "Then this should be painless."

Beast Boy's eyes bugged out of his head. "Pain? Did you—did he just say _pain?_"

"You'll be fine, Beast Boy," Raven murmured. "I promise."

He searched her face for a more convincing reassurance, eyes tinged with apprehension and fear, before whimpering and squeezing his eyes shut. "Okay."

She put three fingers against his right temple, completing the circle. Ignatius began chanting the spell and Raven soon followed suit. She almost stumbled over the foreign words when she noticed Beast Boy's nails dig into his legs, hard enough to tear through the denim. The runes beneath them smoldered with red light, growing stronger and stronger until Raven was forced to shut her eyes.

When she opened them, she wasn't in Azarath anymore.

Trees surrounded her on all sides in a wider variety than anything she'd ever seen before. She counted maybe three she encountered in real life. Following the trunks higher up, she found an impenetrable canopy of leaves blocking the sky from view, along with a scattering of vines. It took her a moment, but she recognized the landscape as an odd mix of forest and jungle. She took another look around at the damp dirt-covered ground and briefly wondered where the light was coming from.

"Hmm," she mused under her breath. "I always thought Beast Boy's mind was emptier than this." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ignatius approaching and greeted him before asking, "Which way?"

His face was inscrutable as he took in their surroundings. At length, he pointed determinedly. "This way."

Raven was impressed. "How do you know?"

"I don't. It seems as good a direction as any."

* * *

><p>Every now and then, an impossible breeze rustled the leaves. Twigs snapped under their footsteps. Other than these slight disturbances, the forest was eerily silent.<p>

It wasn't long before the trees started whispering.

At first, Raven thought she was hearing things. She missed her home and her friends so much that she imagined their voices. But when she noticed Ignatius pause and listen, she followed suit. After a moment, she glanced at him.

"The trees?" she said.

He nodded and they approached the nearest one. The whispering grew to a murmur as they got closer. Another glance and Ignatius reached out and pressed his palm against the trunk.

It rippled, like a pebble dropping into a lake, and soon an image appeared in the wood as if someone had put up an elliptical screen and pressed play. It was blurred around the edges and continuously trembled but Raven recognized the scene immediately.

"It's my birthday party," she said, shocked.

She saw her own disturbed face as her eyes flitted around the room with a scowl, and watched her own mouth open and say, "We're going to need ice cream."

She turned away slowly, the trees around them suddenly something very different. "These aren't just trees. They're his memories."

"You had a party?" Ignatius asked.

"What?"

He was still watching the display wistfully. His mouth opened slightly and trembled, like he didn't dare smile. By now, endless tubs of ice cream had filled Beast Boy's vision as he scarfed most of them down, Starfire and Cyborg next to him grinning.

"Yeah, I had a party," Raven answered stiffly before walking away. She didn't want to remember what had happened earlier that day.

"You never told me your friends threw you a birthday party," Ignatius said, falling into step beside her.

"There were a few. That one wasn't the best, trust me. You didn't miss out on much."

"It is not the party itself, my child," he said, a wistful smile playing on his lips. "You've gained so much. Your friends care for you deeply. Going to Earth turned out to be a much better decision than any of us could have anticipated."

Years ago, before she had asked Azar's permission to leave, Ignatius had been her strongest supporter; he was the one that had put the thought into her head. She'd been almost angry at first when he encouraged her decision, felt as thought he wanted to get rid of her, but eventually realized it came from a place of love. She'd never been truly happy locked away in her room and Ignatius wanted so much more for her than that. Not as much time was spent locked away in her room after she left.

She guessed Earth did have a few perks.

She glanced around at the trees, torn between respecting Beast Boy's privacy and snooping. A small part of her mind not concerned with the mission at hand—and too much influenced by Beast Boy and Cyborg—was much more interested in getting leverage on Beast Boy than solving the problem.

Allowing herself one moment of immature curiosity, she touched the closest tree and watched as a bird's-eye view of a building beside a busy street opened in the tree. At first, there was nothing to see; cars stopped at streetlights, bobbing heads crossing the street and walking in and out of the building. Until one bobbing head came into focus walking out of the building—one with long blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a face that looked all too familiar.

Terra.

"Raven," said Ignatius. "I hear something."

She pulled away from the tree, reeling from the scene, and joined Ignatius as they listened for any other sound. They stood completely still. The trees continued to echo with the voices of Beast Boy's memories but the only thing Raven could hear was her own pulse pounding in her ears.

"This way," Ignatius said and led her through the trees. Soon, the sounds of grunting and crashing became clear. "It sounds like fighting."

As they came closer to the source of the noise, the trees thinned out and disappeared. Impossibly, they found themselves at the edge of a clearing that was still covered by a ceiling of leaf-covered branches. In the center of the clearing were two clashing blurs, moving so fast Raven could hardly keep up. One blur was blue and the other was green.

"Maybe because it _is _fighting," Raven said with a sidelong glance at Ignatius. "What should we do?"

"I do believe that this is currently somewhere closer to your area of expertise than mine," he replied.

"Good point," she conceded. After a second of studying the battling blurs, she threw up a black shield in the center of the clearing. It barred from continuing their fight and the two creatures revealed themselves on either side. As she suspected, the green one was the Beast, a more familiar sight than she really preferred.

But the blue one she'd never seen before. It looked almost human but it was covered in some sort of dark blue armor. Its head sat on its shoulders like a growth, with no neck or face of any kind in sight. As they watched, its humanoid arms sharpened to knife-like points and two more sprouted from its sides. It attacked Raven's shield with all four arms with a speed her eyes could barely comprehend.

It was large and bulky from Raven's perspective but the Beast still towered over it by at least two feet. Which made her wonder why the Beast looked like he was about to topple over from exhaustion while the blue creature hacked away at her shield.

"I take it one of these is the infamous Beast," Ignatius murmured.

"The green one," Raven answered. "I have no idea what the other thing is."

Said other thing whipped its bulk in their direction. It abandoned its attack on the shield and retracted its extra arms into its body. Then it pounced.

Raven pushed Ignatius out of the way and threw out a hand. The creature crumpled against the new shield but sprang to its feet and reared its arms back to prepare a new attack.

Suddenly, a green flash tackled the blue creature and the pair went flying. They slammed into a tree with a crash. The Beast pinned the creature against the trunk, snarling and growling viciously. He pounded the creature against the tree hard enough to shake the ground. But the creature soon gained the upper hand. The Beast was tired and slowed his attack, giving the creature enough time to head butt the Beast. He staggered, panting heavily, and the creature jumped on him. They fell to the ground grappling and for a moment, no one seemed to be winning. But then the creature came out on top, its knee pressing into the Beast's chest. The punches weren't too far behind.

"Raven." Ignatius grabbed her elbow. "We have to leave."

"But we can't just leave him," she protested. "He's getting pulverized." Her eyes landed on the creature's back and she froze. Something was on it, attached to it, almost like a backpack or a…

"Him?" Ignatius said. Not judgmental—never judgmental—but not in a tone Raven found supportive. "Whose side are you on?"

"Beast Boy's."

Her eyes glowed white and black energy wrapped around the blue creature before it sent it flying into the treetops and far, far away.

The Beast lay on his back for a moment, chest rising and falling rapidly. He leaned on his elbows and lifted his head. His blank white eyes still terrified her, but when Raven looked into them, she swore—beyond any logical reason—that they were grateful.

* * *

><p>AN: Not kidding, my sister bought me an "Evil Beware, We Have Waffles" T-shirt with Raven and a waffle on it and I have never been happier about a T-shirt in my entire life.

Anyway, so how is everybody? It's been a while since we last saw(?) each other. Hope no one's too angry about my terribly long absence. Finals, holidays, a road trip, and a nasty cold with residual effects (along with a tough case of writer's block) kept me from the keyboard for a while. My admiration and respect for writers who update and write regularly has never been so strong.

Anyway (Pt. II), I avoid action scenes with everything I have because they are the hardest things I ever write. Ever. I am much better at dialogue (in my opinion anyway). So, let me know what you think of this chapter especially. Always looking to get better and give you guys some good action. Thanks for reading this far!


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